Traction cuff



R. E. DAVIS TRACTION CUFF Nov. 15, 1955 Filed April 25, 1954 m m m m ain 1' E. 01? 1/15 United States Patent TRACTION CUFF Ralph E. Davis, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application April 23, 1954, Serial No. 425,239

3 Claims. (Cl. 128-75) This invention relates to a cushioned traction cuff with top tension strap connections. 1

A major purpose of the invention is to enable full traction to be achieved without technical aid and without any possibility of skin irritation or restriction of blood circulation or undue pressure upon the nerves.

My improved cuff is particularly useful in the treatment and correction of fractures of the legs, pelvis and vertebrae and in the treatment and correction of dislocations and lesions. It is also used in the treatment and surgical application of surgical pins or other fasteners in the hip joints, tibia, fibulae and femurs.

In the past, patients requiring traction have been shaved and taped and usually bandaged for the protection of the skin and in an effort to avoid constriction. Yet injuries to the patient have persisted and constriction has prevented adequate blood flow despite all precautions. The present invention involves a cuff which is cushioned with sponge rubber, felt, down, or pneumatically and which is strapped about the ankle and has straps of its own which are slidably related to a strap encircling the cuff near its bottom and which are connected to another strap encircling the cuff near its top to distribute the stress to the patients limb so effectively as to avoid constriction despite the application of full traction. The straps which are attached to the cushion to encircle the patients ankle outside the cushion have a yoke connected with them which is supported by the cushion free of contact with the patients foot and provides for attachment of the traction devices, Whatever their nature.

Due partly to restriction of blood circulation, and due partly to impossibility of adequate insulation of the patients feet, previous tension devices have usually resulted in the patients feet becoming painfully cold. The present device may be applied over a sock or other footwear, if desired, thereby keeping the patients feet comfortably warm.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing my improved traction cuif in use.

Fig. 2 shows the cuff in perspective on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a detail view taken in section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

My improved cuff comprises a cuff 4 containing a pad or cushion 5 which may be of any suitable type or construction such as felt, sponge rubber, down or pneumatic. Beyond the pad, the jacket 4 has terminal flaps 6 and 6 which will ordinarily lap after the cuff is applied to encircle the patients limb in the manner suggested in Fig. 1.

Stitched to the outside of the jacket 4 of the cuff are limb encircling straps 7 and 8 with free end portions 9 and 10 receivable through the buckles 11 and 12. Each end of the stirrup comprises a plurality of tension elements (straps) 13 which have their ends folded about the limb encircling strap 7 as shown in Fig. 3 and anchored by the stitching 14 which secures the limb encircling strap 7 to the cuff 4. The stirrup straps 13 then pass freely beneath the limb encircling strap 8 without connection thereto. The fact that the spaced multiple ends of the stirrup straps are free at all points except where they connect to the cuff near its top margin transfers all stirrup tension to the top margin of the cuff, this being a major feature of the invention. Stirrup strap bight 15 is of sufiicient length to lie beyond the patients foot. The thickness of the cuff provided by the cushion 5 supports the stirrup free of contact with the sides of the patients foot. A stirrup fastening device 16 receives connection with the traction device, which may be of any desired construction. As illustrated, the traction device simply consists of rope 17 passing about pulley 18 and supporting weight 19.

The tension exerted by the traction device is so distributed by the stirrup 13, the limb encircling straps 7 and 8, and the cushion 5 as to tend to exert its pull from the top of the cuff above the ankle bone and at all sides of the limb, thus eliminating any problem of constriction. No previous preparation is required, since no irritation of the patients skin is experienced. The cufi is almost instantly applicable and removable simply by releasing the straps 9 and 10 from their respective buckles 11 and 12. As previously noted, the cuff is readily applicable over hosiery or other protective garments used to keep the patients feet warm, this being another major advantage over a traction connection which requires the expert application of tape directly to the patients skin.

While reference has been made to the application of the traction cuff to a patients ankle, this being its common use, it is also applicable to a patients wrist with similar advantages.

I claim:

1. A traction cufi comprising a padded cufi of such length as to encircle a patients limb, together with a stirrup each end of which comprises a plurality of tension elements, the several elements extending freely across the lower margin of the cuff and connected with the cuff at points spaced along its upper margin to exert tension distributed about the limb by the cuff.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the cuff has upper and lower limb encircling strap means unitarily connected externally to it adjacent its upper and lower margins, the strap means having terminals connecting the cuff about the patients limb, the stirrup ends extending beneath the lower strap means free of connection therewith and having fixed connection with the upper strap means being anchored to said strap means.

3. A traction cuff for application to a patients limb, said cuff comprising a jacket having terminal tabs and provided intermediate said tabs with a thick cushion of limb encircling length, a pair of straps mutually spaced adjacent the upper and lower margins of the cuff and connected with said jacket outside the cushion and provided with free end portions adapted for connection to hold the cufi about the patients limb, together with stirrup means comprising a tension strap device having a bight of such dimensions as to clear the patients extremity and having at least four ends slidable beneath the strap at the lower margin of the cuff jacket and connected at points spaced along the strap at the upper margin of the cuff jacket, the said bight having a tension connection and said device being arranged to distribute tension from the upper margin of the cuff downwardly about the patients limb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 937,354 Amos Oct. 19, 1909 2,198,995 Gray Apr. 30, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,337 Great Britain ..of 1837 

